Watermark-based goods authentication

ABSTRACT

An implementation is described herein facilitates certification of goods and/or identifications of the source of such goods. At least one implementation, described herein, embeds a watermark into a relatively small amount of data in a deterministic manner. At least one implementation, described herein, generates an authentication transformation matrix based, at least in part, upon an authentication watermark and a pre-defined humanly perceptible authentication pattern (e.g., image, audio). With this implementation, it obtains subject goods that may have the authentication watermark embedded therein. It generates a humanly perceptible resultant pattern (e.g., image, audio) based, at least in part, upon the watermark detected in subject goods and the transformation matrix. If the detected watermark is the authentication watermark, then the resultant pattern and the pre-defined authentication pattern will match (or nearly so). At least one implementation, described herein, hides a secret key around the periphery of watermarked goods. This abstract itself is not intended to limit the scope of this patent. The scope of the present invention is pointed out in the appending claims.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention generally relates to anti-counterfeiting, authentication,watermarking, cryptography and/or steganography technology.

BACKGROUND

Herein, “goods” is a generic label for content which is representedon/by a physical medium or on/by an electronic medium. Examples ofphysical medium representation include printed image and printeddocument or other data. Examples of electronic medium representationinclude electronically stored or transmitted images, audio clips, video,multimedia, software, and data.

There are many conventional approaches designed to aid in goodsauthentication and/or deter counterfeiting. Sophisticated documentproduction is the most common approach.

Counterfeits

For as long as important documents (which are examples of “goods”) haveexisted, ne'er-do-wells have forged them when they could not acquire,would not acquire, or could not afford to acquire the real thing.

Counterfeit money was often the product of their forgery. To combat anddeter such counterfeiting (of money or other important documents),issuing organizations have produced documents with increasingly moresophistication.

Sophisticated Production

The test of the veracity of important documents has been the difficultyof producing such documents. Often important documents havecounterfeit-deterrence features. For example, the receiver of legaltender assumes that it is authentic because of the great difficulty andsophistication required to produce a passable counterfeit.

However, recent advances in printing technology have made high-qualityprinting devices relatively inexpensive. Furthermore, recent advances inimaging technology have made high-quality image manipulation softwarerelatively inexpensive and readily accessible.

The availability of high-end printers and advanced imaging software hasrendered forging most goods (such as important documents) a relativelysimple task. In response, issuing organizations (such as governments)have implemented increasingly more sophisticated and presumptively moreexpensive production techniques. Examples of such sophisticatedproduction techniques include employing one or more of the following inthe final goods: holograms, watermarks, micro-printing, special printpaper, security threads, magnetic properties, and chemical flags.

Watermarks

Historically, a traditional watermark is a faintly visible markimprinted on or embedded in print media (such as stationary) thattypically identifies the source of the print medium. Watermarks havebeen around almost as long as print media (such as paper) as existed.Like hallmarks on silver, watermarks were originally used to show whichartisan had produced which paper. They later became synonymous withsecurity, appearing on banknotes to deter counterfeiters. Herein, thistype of watermark is called a “traditional watermark.”

Like a traditional watermark, a “digital watermark” is an embeddedidentifying mark, but it is embedded into digital goods. It typicallycontains hidden identification data and is often used to track the useof copyrighted materials.

Unlike traditional watermarks, which are intended to be somewhatvisible, digital watermarks are typically designed to be completelyimperceptible to the human senses. If it is an image, then the digitalwatermark is typically invisible to the naked eye. If it an audio clip,then the digital watermark is typically inaudible to the human ear.While it is imperceptible to humans, digital watermarks are typically atleast detectable by a specifically designed digital watermark detector.

Those of ordinary skill in the art are familiar with conventionaltechniques and technology associated with watermarks, watermarkembedding, and watermark detecting.

SUMMARY

An implementation is described herein facilitates certification of goodsand/or identifications of the source of such goods.

At least one implementation, described herein, embeds a watermark into arelatively small amount of data in a deterministic manner.

At least one implementation, described herein, generates anauthentication transformation matrix based, at least in part, upon anauthentication watermark and a pre-defined humanly perceptibleauthentication pattern (e.g., image, audio). With this implementation,it obtains subject goods that may have the authentication watermarkembedded therein. It generates a humanly perceptible resultant pattern(e.g., image, audio) based, at least in part, upon the watermarkdetected in subject goods and the transformation matrix. If the detectedwatermark is the authentication watermark, then the resultant patternand the pre-defined authentication pattern will match (or nearly so).

At least one implementation, described herein, hides a secret key aroundthe periphery of watermarked goods.

This summary itself is not intended to limit the scope of this patent.Moreover, the title of this patent is not intended to limit the scope ofthis patent. For a better understanding of the present invention, pleasesee the following detailed description and appending claims, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings. The scope of the presentinvention is pointed out in the appending claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The same numbers are used throughout the drawings to reference likeelements and features.

FIG. 1 is schematic diagram illustrating a mark embedding system inaccordance with an implementation.

FIG. 2 is schematic diagram illustrating a mark authentication/detectionsystem in accordance with an implementation.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram showing a methodological implementationdescribed herein.

FIG. 4 is a is a flow diagram showing a methodological implementationdescribed herein.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram showing a methodological implementationdescribed herein.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing a methodological implementationdescribed herein.

FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 7C are images that illustrate the output of anauthenticator in accordance with an implementation.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram showing a methodological implementationdescribed herein.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram showing a methodological implementationdescribed herein.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are an images used to illustrate the results producedin accordance with an implementation.

FIG. 11 is an example of a computing operating environment capable of(wholly or partially) implementing at least one embodiment describedherein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, specificnumbers, materials and configurations are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will beapparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may bepracticed without the specific exemplary details. In other instances,well-known features are omitted or simplified to clarify the descriptionof the exemplary implementations of the present invention, and thereby,to better explain the present invention. Furthermore, for ease ofunderstanding, certain method steps are delineated as separate steps;however, these separately delineated steps should not be construed asnecessarily order dependent in their performance.

The following description sets forth one or more exemplaryimplementations of a Watermark-based Goods Authentication thatincorporate elements recited in the appended claims. Theseimplementations are described with specificity in order to meetstatutory written description, enablement, and best-mode requirements.However, the description itself is not intended to limit the scope ofthis patent.

These exemplary implementations, described herein, are examples. Theseexemplary implementations do not limit the scope of the claimed presentinvention; rather, the present invention might also be embodied andimplemented in other ways, in conjunction with other present or futuretechnologies.

Examples of embodiments of a Watermark-based Goods Authentication may bedescribed herein as “exemplary authentication architecture”, an“exemplary deterministic watermarking”, an “exemplary authenticationmark authenticator,” and/or “exemplary secret key distribution.”

Herein, “goods authentication” refers to the confirmation that thepresented goods are authentic, genuine, legitimate, valid, and/orunadulterated. This may also be called “goods certification.” Herein,“entity identification” refers to the identification of an entityassociated with authentic goods. That entity is typically an entity theissues the genuine goods or a user that receives it.

Those skilled in the art realize that, although the implementations,described herein, focus on use with images, the present invention may beadvantageously used with any of a wide variety of different types ofdigital goods (such as images, audio, video, multimedia, software,databases, and other large datasets).

Introduction

The one or more exemplary implementations, described herein, of thepresent claimed invention may be implemented (in whole or in part) by anauthentication architecture, mark embedding system 100, markauthentication system 200, and/or as part of a computing environmentlike that shown in FIG. 11.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show the authentication architecture. As described herein,it has three implementation aspects:

-   exemplary deterministic watermarking-   exemplary authentication mark authenticator; and-   exemplary secret key distribution.

The authentication architecture includes the mark embedding system 100for generating the marked goods and mark authentication system 200 forfacilitating that the subject (e.g., not counterfeit) and identifyingthe source entity. Both systems share a common secret key which is usedas the seed of a secure pseudo-random number generator and unknown tothe adversary. Alternatively, there may be a common master key forgeneration of one of multiple entity-specific keys.

Deterministic Watermark Embedding/Detecting with Small Host Signal Size

Unlike conventional spread spectrum schemes that require large signalsize for convergence, the exemplary deterministic watermarking producessatisfactory results even when the host signal size is small.

The operation of the exemplary deterministic watermarking is discussedwith regard to FIGS. 3 and 4.

Goods Authentication via Perceptual Pattern Matching

With the exemplary authentication mark authenticator, one mayefficiently create and authenticate marked goods that thwartcounterfeiting attempts. Furthermore, with the exemplary authenticationmark authenticator, one may obtain traceability information using themarked goods. This tractability is beneficial to a forensics analysis.

The operation of the exemplary authentication mark authenticator isdiscussed with regard to FIGS. 5 and 6 and images of FIGS. 7A, 7B, and7C.

The implementation aspect may utilize the watermark embedding anddetection of the exemplary deterministic watermarking (which isdiscussed herein with regard to FIGS. 3 and 4). However, that particularimplementation of the exemplary deterministic watermarking is notnecessary for all implementations of the exemplary authentication markauthenticator. Alternatively, the exemplary authentication markauthenticator may use any other suitable spread-spectrum watermarkingscheme.

Within the exemplary authentication mark authenticator, anauthentication transformation matrix is generated. It is based, at leastin part, upon an authentication watermark and a pre-defined humanlyperceptible authentication pattern (e.g., image, audio). For example,the image of FIG. 7A may represent a visual pre-defined authenticationpattern.

With the exemplary authentication mark authenticator, subject goods aretested. This testing generates a humanly perceptible resultant pattern(e.g., image, audio) based, at least in part, upon the watermarkdetected in subject goods and the transformation matrix. For example,the image of FIG. 5B may represent a visual resultant pattern. If thedetected watermark is the authentication watermark, then the resultantpattern and the pre-defined authentication pattern will match (or nearlyso).

Unlike conventional watermark detection, the exemplary authenticationmark authenticator produces a perceptual output. The image of FIG. 5Brepresents an example of visual output. However, such perceptual outputmay be other types, such as audio.

For contrast, in classical spread-spectrum schemes, detection isperformed based on a single correlation output. Instead, the exemplaryauthentication mark authenticator produces a perceptual output for ahuman to verify and identify the otherwise hidden watermark.

While the types of subject goods are not limited, the discussion hereinfocuses on images for the explanatory and illustrative purposes. Inparticular, the image may have a digital manifestation when it iselectronically stored or transmitted and it may have a physicalmanifestation when it is printed on a print medium.

Secret Key Distribution

With the exemplary secret key distribution, a secret key is hidden withthe goods so that it may be read later by the detector/authenticator.This secret key is used by both the watermark embedder anddetector/authenticator.

The operation of the exemplary secret key distribution is discussed withregard to FIGS. 8 and 9 and images of FIGS. 10A and 10B.

Authentication Watermark

In conventional watermarking, the presence of the watermark typicallyindicates some identifying information, such as copyright or ownership.An adversarial attacker wants to remove or impair the watermark whilemaintaining the goods in a reasonable good condition. If the attack issuccessful, the typical watermark detector does not detect or identifyany watermark in the subject goods. Therefore, it must assume that thegoods are in the public domain.

However, there are some instances where the identifying information ofthe goods is already known at the detection stage. Example of suchinstances include when the goods are legal tender, artwork, andcertification marks.

In each of these instances, an “attacker” is more accurately describedas a “forger” or “counterfeiter.” Instead of wanting to remove thewatermark, she wants to retain it and the goods in state as close to theoriginal as possible. The forger wishes to pass-off her forged goods asgenuine.

So, for the exemplary authentication architecture, it is assumed thatthe forger wishes to reproduce the marked goods as accurately aspossible. The forger is likely to reproduce the marked goods by eithercopying the original marked goods or by manually generating areproduction out-of-whole-cloth and inserting a legal-looking watermarktherein.

The exemplary authentication architecture aims to be sufficiently robustenough against minor alterations such as noise addition, compression,smoothing, printing & scanning, and such. These alterations also includeinevitable unintentional imperfections that occur in the field tests.But it does not need to be robust against outright and directadversarial attacks designed to remove or impair the watermark. Withouta watermark and the correct one at that, the subject goods are deemed tobe counterfeit.

So, instead of detecting a presence of a watermark, the detector insteadperforms an authentication or certification of the subject goods.Herein, this is called watermark authentication or certification.Furthermore, the watermark being inserted is classified as an“authentication watermark” since it designed to help authenticategenuine goods, and thus fight counterfeiting of the goods.

Moreover, the embedded mark provides traceability information whendetected properly and when it is used in combination with anothergeneric tamper-evident system. In that case, such a generictamper-evident system yields information about authenticity and ourproposed system provides the origins of the leakage.

To that end, each entity having responsibility for issue genuine goodsmay have one or more watermarks (or other encoded keys) associated withthem. Find a particular watermark associated with an issuer, effectivelyidentifies the issuing entity. This identifying property of the mark (orother encoded keys) is analogous to being able to identify the mint theproduces legal tender by an identifying mint mark.

Semi-Blind Watermarking

To detect a watermark, some watermarking techniques require access tothe original unmarked good or to a pristine specimen of the marked good.Of course, these techniques are not desirable when the watermarkauthenticator is available publicly. If publicly available, then amalicious attacker may get access to the original unmarked good or to apristine specimen of the marked good. Consequently, these types oftechniques are not used for public authenticators.

Alternatively, many watermarking techniques are “blind.” This means thatthey do not require access to the original unmarked good or to apristine specimen of the marked good. Of course, these “blind”watermarking techniques are desirable when the watermark authenticatoris publicly available.

The exemplary authentication architecture is semi-blind in the followingsense: At the authentication side, it is assumed that there is some sideinformation that is correlated with the original unmarked goods, but itdoes not require the presence of the original signal. As describedherein, the exemplary authentication mark authenticator employs a noisyversion of the unmarked goods without imposing any security threats.This still functions properly as far as mark authentication isconcerned, but it is difficult for an adversary to obtain a goodestimate of the original goods (assuming that the power of thedisturbance in the noisy goods is sufficiently high).

Notation

This notion is used herein:

-   s: The data of the unmarked goods is viewed as a vector of size n×1    without loss of generality. Note that n is an input parameter in    this description; however for the exemplary deterministic    watermarking, n typically takes relatively small values (e.g., √    n<100).-   w: The watermark sequence of size n×1.-   K: The secret key that shall be used as the seed of a secure    pseudo-random number generator for the randomized portions of the    embedding and authentication. K is assumed to be present both at the    embedder and the authenticator. This key may be secretly encoded in    the periphery of the goods. It controls the generation of w, T, and    M.-   M: This is a pre-defined humanly perceptible authentication pattern    (e.g., image, audio). In at least one implementation, it is an image    (such as FIG. 7A). Alternatively, it may be a audio pattern in an    audio clip. It may have a signal of size m×1. Note that, in general,    n≠m, and unlike n, exemplary authentication architecture controls    the value of m. There is no restriction on this size due to physical    limitations.-   T: The authentication-transformation matrix. It is generated at the    authenticator or at some intermediary between the embedder and    authenticator. It is typically pseudo-randomly generated, but it is    based, at least in part, upon the watermark (w) and the pre-defined    pattern (M) and a possibly perturbed version of the unmarked    signal s. In at least one implementation, its generation may be    dependent on w, K, M, and a noisy version of s. The    authentication-transformation matrix is of size m×n.

The combination of the detected watermark of the subject digital goodsand the authentication-transformation matrix (T) produces a humanlyperceptible resultant pattern (e.g., image, audio). If the detectedwatermark is the authentication watermark, then the resultant patternand the pre-defined authentication pattern will match (or nearly so).

For illustration purposes and for ease of explanation, s is representedby image have a size of 40×40 (i.e., n=1600). Still for purposes ofillustration and explanation, M represents an image of size 150×150,therefore m=22500. Those of ordinary skill in the art understand andappreciate that the relative sizes of s and M may vary for a desiredimplementation.

For convenience of this discussion, it is assumed that s, w, M, and Tconsist of real numbers. This description uses the usual L² innerproduct <·,·> (which is defined as

$\langle {x,y} \rangle = {\sum\limits_{i}{x_{i}y_{i}}}$where x, y are real vectors and x_(i), y_(i) are the i-th components ofx and y respectively) and the Euclidean norm ∥·∥ that is induced by itunless otherwise specified.Exemplary Mark Embedding

FIG. 1 shows the mark embedding system 100. It includes a goodsproducer/provider 110 that produces and distributes original markedgoods that includes content such as images, video, audio, etc. The goodsproducer/provider 110 may distribute the goods over a network 144 to acomputing device or via processor-readable media 142, such as a CD-ROM.It may also generate a physical manifestation of the goods via a printer152.

The goods producer/provider 110 has a content storage 120 to storedigital goods of original content. The goods producer 110 has awatermark encoding system 130 to embed the digital goods with awatermark. The watermark encoding system 130 applies the watermark todigital goods (such as goods 122) from the content storage 120.

This watermark may be an authentication watermark and may identify thecontent as authentic or genuine. Furthermore, the watermark may be anentity identification watermark which may provide useful traceabilityinformation for forensics analysis. The watermark encoding system 130may be implemented as a standalone process or incorporated into otherapplications or an operating system.

The goods producer/provider 110 has a goods distribution sub-system 140that transmits the watermarked digital goods over the network 144 (e.g.,the Internet). Alternatively, it stores the watermarked digital goodsonto processor-readable media 142 (e.g., floppy disk or CD-ROM).

Alternatively, the goods producer/provider 110 has a goods productionsub-system 150 and a printer 152 that prints the marked digital goods onprint media. FIG. 1 shows an example of a physical manifestation 156 ofmarked goods being printed on a print medium 154 by the printer 152.

Exemplary Mark Authentication/Detection

FIG. 2 shows the exemplary authentication mark authenticator. Itincludes a computing device 210 which is typically equipped with one ormore processors, a memory, one or more input devices, and one or moreoutput devices (e.g., speakers, monitor, digital media writer, etc.).The one or more input devices is designed to receive input signalscontaining digital goods from one or more sources, such as sourcesillustrated in FIG. 2.

Examples of such sources includes a digital camera 230, a scanner 220,processor-readable media 242, and a network 244 (such as the Internet).Each source may contain or have access to digital goods. For example,the scanner 220 may produce a digital representation of goods 222 byscanning it.

The computing device 210 may be embodied in a many different ways, suchas a computer, a handheld entertainment device, a set-top box, atelevision, an audio appliance, and so forth.

Deterministic Watermark Embedding

At the watermark encoding system 130, the exemplary deterministicwatermarking obtains subject goods as an input signal. An input signalmay also be called the host signal. The focus of the exemplarydeterministic watermarking is to embed a watermark into a host signalhaving a relatively small size and do so in a matter that reduces thedetectability of the embedded watermark by an adversary (when comparedto conventional approaches).

The host signal may be viewed as a vector of size n×1 without loss ofgenerality. For the exemplary deterministic watermarking, the hostsignal size has relatively small values of n (e.g., √ n<100).

The exemplary deterministic watermarking generates a bandlimited (i.e.,“smooth”) pseudo-random signal and projects it onto a subspace that isorthogonal to the input signal. The outcome of the projection forms thewatermark after further processing, such as integer rounding andquantization.

Given original unmarked goods, the exemplary deterministic watermarkingfixes some s (i.e., data of original unmarked goods). In conventionalspread-spectrum watermarking schemes, w (i.e., watermark) is generatedpseudo-randomly and independently of the unmarked host signal s. Suchconventional approaches rely on long signal lengths (i.e., large n) inorder to ensure the convergence of <s, w> to 0. Such a convergence makesit more difficult for an adversary to detect and attack the embeddedwatermark.

The exemplary deterministic watermarking avoids this limitation by adeterministic construction of w that employs “Gramm-Schmidtorthogonalization.” This operation projects w on the subspace orthogonalto s and is done so that to ensure the approximate equality of <s, w>=0even when the size of s is small.

As known to those of ordinary skill in the art, the name “Gramm-Schmittorthogonalization” is the standard name for this type of projection. Asused herein, the primary example of projection is Gramm-Schmidtorthogonalization. Of course, the exemplary deterministic watermarkingmay employ other types of suitable projections that are current known orsubsequently developed.

The projection is done so that it satisfies <s,w>=0 as follows:

-   a pseudo-random vector a is generated;-   it is projected on a subspace that is orthogonal to s to get w;-   a scaling factor α may be applied to the outcome of the projection    as well.

Let P_(x)(·) be the projection operator (whose domain is R^(n)) on thesubspace that is spanned by x∈R^(n):

${P_{x}(y)} = {\frac{\langle {x,y} \rangle}{{x}^{2}}{x.}}$

Similarly, let P_(x)⊥(·) be the projection operator (whose domain isR^(n)) on the subspace that is orthogonal to the subspace spanned byx∈R^(n):P _(X)⊥(y)=y−P _(x)(y).

Then, given a pseudo-random a, Gramm-Schmidt orthogonalization yields:w=αP_(S)⊥(a),  (1.1)Which guarantees that w is pseudo-randomly generated and <w, s>=0.

Moreover, the exemplary deterministic watermarking generates w as asmoothly-varying vector such that it does not create perceptuallyannoying artifacts. Such high-frequency artifacts are dangerous in termsof security since they tend to increase the estimation accuracy of w foran adversary. This is because most of the energy of natural images isconcentrated at low-frequencies. Furthermore, such artifacts could beannoying for the casual non-adversarial users as well.

The exemplary deterministic watermarking generates a smoothly-varyingpseudo-random w that is orthogonal to s as follows:

Let V_(L) ⊂ R^(n) be the subspace that consists of all bandlimitedvectors in R^(n) that are bandlimited to a given frequency ƒ_(c).

Let n_(L) be the dimension of V_(L) and

{v_(Li)}_(i = 1)^(n_(L))be a basis of V_(L).

Similarly let V_(H) ⊂R^(n) be the complement of V_(L) and letn_(H)=n−n_(L) and

{v_(Hi)}_(i = 1)^(n_(H))be its dimension and a basis of it respectively.

Naturally, this means ∀i,j,<v_(Li),v_(Lj)>=<v_(Hi),v_(Hj)>=δ_(ij) and<V_(Li),v_(Hj)>=0, where δ_(ij) is the Kronecker-Delta function, i.e.,δ_(ij)=1 if i=j, δ_(ij)=0 otherwise.

Herein, w is considered to be “smoothly-varying” if ∀i, <w,v_(Hj)>=0.Thus, the exemplary deterministic watermarking pseudo-randomly generatesw such that we have ∀i,<w,s>=<w,v_(Hj)>=0.

Let P_(L)(·) and P_(H)(·) be the projection operators that project onV_(L) and V_(H) respectively (domains of both are R^(n)):

${{P_{L}(x)} = {\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{n_{L}}{\langle {x,v_{Li}} \rangle v_{Li}}}},{{P_{H}(x)} = {\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{n_{H}}{\langle {x,v_{Hi}} \rangle{v_{Hi}.}}}}$

Define S_(L)=P_(L)(s) and S_(H)=P_(H)(s). Now, given a pseudo-random a,the exemplary deterministic watermarking generates w as follows:w=α(a−P _(S) _(L) (a)−P_(H)(a)),  (1.2)which guarantees that w is pseudo-randomly generated and<w,S_(L)>=<w,v_(Hi)>=0. This trivially implies <w,s>=0.

Generation of w via equation (1.2) ensures all the conditions mentionedabove. The resulting w is in R^(n). However, this may often not bedesired due to some practical requirements.

In at least one implementation, the exemplary deterministic watermarkingwould like to have w∈C={−C, −C+1, . . . , C−1, C}^(n), where C is someconstant parameter. In this instance, it is desirable to have theelements of w be integers because s is typically a digital signal.

This may be achieved iteratively. Once a candidate w is identified, itis mapped onto C using a mapping and use the result in equation (1.2) inthe place of a. The exemplary deterministic watermarking practicallyapproximately almost always satisfies both equation (1.2) and thecondition w∈C.

Methodology of the Exemplary Deterministic Mark Embedder

FIG. 3 shows a methodological implementation of the exemplarydeterministic watermarking. This methodological implementation may beperformed in software, hardware, or a combination thereof.

At 310 of FIG. 3, the exemplary deterministic watermarking obtains s and{V_(Li)}. Here {V_(Li)} are the basis vectors that span the subspaceV_(L).

At 312, the exemplary deterministic watermarking computesS_(L)=P_(L)(s). Here, S_(L) is the projection of s on the subspace V_(L)and P_(L) is the corresponding projection operator.

At 314, it pseudo-randomly generates a such that its elements are i.i.d.(independent identically distributed) random variables drawn from theuniform distribution in [−1, 1]. This typically employs a securepseudo-random number generator (such as RC4) where the seed is set tothe secret key K.

At 316, it sets w_(prev)=a,error=10¹⁰, ε=10⁻³.

At 318, while error>ε, the exemplary deterministic watermarking repeatsthe following:

-   computes b via b=W_(prev)−P_(sL)(W_(prev))−P_(H)(W_(prev)). Here,    W_(prev) is first projected on V_(H) and the subspace spanned by    S_(L); then the outcomes of the projection are subtracted from    W_(prev) to obtain b. Equivalently, W_(prev) is projected on the    subspace orthogonal to s and then projected on V_(L) and the outcome    is b. Consequently, b is obtained, derived from W_(prev) such that    <b,s>=0 and b is bandlimited (i.e., in V_(L)).-   scales each element of b by C and then rounds to the nearest integer    in [−C,C]. The result is W_(next). Hence, b is mapped onto C and the    result is W_(next).-   finds error =∥W_(next)−W_(prev).∥ Here the discrepancy between    consecutive steps of the iterative algorithm is computed. The aim is    for error to monotonically decrease with each iteration of the    algorithm.-   set W_(prev).=W_(next).    At the end of this iterative block, W_(next) satisfies to be    orthogonal to s, bandlimited (i.e., in V_(L)) and an element of C    (assuming convergence is achieved).

At 320, the watermarking vector is given by w=W_(next) and thewatermarked signal is given by s+w.

Typically, the iteration discussed above converges in less than teniterations.

Exemplary Deterministic Mark Detection

FIG. 4 shows a methodological implementation of the exemplarydeterministic watermarking. This methodological implementation may beperformed in software, hardware, or a combination thereof.

At 410 of FIG. 4, the exemplary deterministic watermarking obtains aninput x and the noisy version {tilde over (s)} of the original signal.That would be {tilde over (s)}=s+p (where p is previously generated at asecure location via equation (1.3), but it is not given to thedetector).

At 412, it computes {tilde over (s)}_(L)=P_(L)({tilde over (s)}).

At 414, the exemplary deterministic watermarking computes {tilde over(w)} using the actions of blocks 314-318 of the methodological approachFIG. 3 and described above, where s and S_(L) are replaced by {tildeover (s)} and {tilde over (s)}_(L) respectively.

It pseudo-randomly generates a such that its elements are i.i.d.(independent identically distributed) random variables drawn from theuniform distribution in [−1, 1]. This typically employs a securepseudo-random number generator (such as RC4) where the seed is set tothe secret key K. This secret key may be a watermark-specific secret key(as discussed below in section titled “Distribution of the Secret KeyThat Determines the Embedded Watermark”).

It sets {tilde over (w)}_(prev)=a, error=10¹⁰,ε=10⁻³.

While error >ε, the exemplary deterministic watermarking repeats thefollowing:

-   computes b via b={tilde over (w)}_(prev)−P_({tilde over (s)}) _(L)    ({tilde over (w)}_(prev))−P_(H)({tilde over (w)}_(prev)).-   scales each element of b by C and then rounds to the nearest integer    in [−C,C]. The result is {tilde over (w)}_(next).-   finds error=∥{tilde over (w)}_(next)−{tilde over (w)}_(prev).∥-   set {tilde over (w)}_(prev). ={tilde over (w)}_(next).

At 416, the perturbed watermark vector, that the detector will use fordetection purposes, is given by {tilde over (w)}={tilde over(w)}_(next). Thus, the exemplary deterministic watermarking providesresults of the watermark determination. Those results may be {tilde over(w)}.

Exemplary Authentication Mark Authentication

The exemplary authentication mark authenticator pseudo-randomly forms an“authentication matrix” whose rows are designed to be orthogonal to theunmarked goods, but possibly non-orthogonal to the watermark. The innerproducts of the rows of the authentication matrix and the watermark areknown at the exemplary authentication mark authenticator. These innerproducts form the visual output based upon the subject goods. If thesubject good is indeed watermarked, a visual representation of thatwatermark will be visible on a display.

The authentication is performed by applying the linear operatorrepresented by the authentication matrix to the received signal andvisually examining the output. If the visual output is “close” to apre-determined figure or shape, the exemplary authentication markauthenticator declares that the watermark is present and not presentotherwise. Therefore, the subject goods are determined to be authorizedor not.

With at least one implementation, the exemplary authentication markauthenticator performs authentication using a variant of the correlationdetector that has been modified to produce a visual outputrepresentation of such correlation. If s and K are both known at theauthenticator, this task would be straightforward because w may bedirectly generated using s and K at the authenticator. However, for someapplications, it is undesirable to give the unmarked source to theauthenticator because it may be compromised.

Instead of having a pristine version of s available to theauthenticator, at lease one implication employs a noisy version of s atthe authenticator. More specifically, the authenticator is given {tildeover (s)}=s+p where <s, p >=0 and ∀i,<v_(Hj),p>=0. The generation of pis as follows:p=q−P _(S) _(L) (q)−P _(H)(q),  (1.3)where q is a randomly generated vector in R^(n).

We assume that the authenticator is given ∥S_(L)∥, ∥S∥, and ∥w∥ Below isprovided a brief intuitive discussion to clarify the effects of having{tilde over (s)} instead of s at the authenticator. To simplify thediscussion, the iterative portion of the embedding approach (discussedabove) is not taken into account. In other words, this is assumed forthe purposes of this discussion:w=a−P _(S) _(L) (α)−P _(H)(a)  (1.4)

Define {tilde over (S)}_(L)=P_(L)({tilde over (S)}). Clearly, {tildeover (S)}_(L)=S_(L)+P since P_(H) (p)=0. The authenticator uses {tildeover (w)} during authentication, where

$\begin{matrix}{\overset{\sim}{w} = {a - {\frac{{{\overset{\sim}{s}}_{L}}^{2}}{{s_{L}}^{2}}{P_{{\overset{\sim}{s}}_{L}}(a)}} - {{P_{H}(a)}.}}} & (1.5)\end{matrix}$

It can be shown that{tilde over (w)}=w+Δw,where w is given by equation (1.4) and

${{\Delta\; w} = {{{- \frac{\langle {a,s_{L}} \rangle}{{s_{L}}^{2}}}p} - {\frac{\langle {a,p} \rangle}{{s_{L}}^{2}}s_{L}} - {\frac{\langle {a,p} \rangle}{{s_{L}}^{2}}p}}},$can be viewed as a “distortion” term in the generation of {tilde over(w)} due to the presence of p.

Unlike any conventional watermark detection scheme, watermarkauthentication with the exemplary authentication mark authenticator isbased on a human-perceptible output (e.g., an image or audio) that isproduced by the authenticator. In conventional watermark schemes, thedetector's output is typically a single number which is the correlationbetween the watermark and the received signal.

In order to obtain a visual output, the exemplary authentication markauthenticator produces a series of correlator outputs and shapes them,which can be easily recognized using the power of human perception. Thedigital good is increasingly more likely to be genuine the more closelythe visual output at the authenticator is to the pre-defined humanlyperceptible authentication pattern M when the watermark was present inthe original marked goods.

In order to produce this human-perceptible output, the exemplaryauthentication mark authenticator applies a linear operator to theauthenticator input signal. The linear operator is represented by them×n matrix T.

Construction of Authentication-transformation Matrix (T)

Construction of the authentication-transformation matrix (T) is not partof the watermark embedding process. An implementation of the exemplaryauthentication mark authenticator may be produced that utilizes anywatermarked signal, where both the watermark and the pre-defined humanlyperceptible authentication pattern (M) are known. Theauthentication-transformation matrix of a marked signal is initiallygenerated before an attempted authentication of a corresponding subjectsignal.

The authentication-transformation matrix may be initially generated byany computing system that can include the mark embedding system 100.

Let M_(j) be the j-th entry of M and t^(j) be the j-th row of T, 1≦j≧m.The following construction is used to form T:

$\begin{matrix}{{t^{j} = {c^{j} - {\frac{\langle {c^{j},\overset{\sim}{s}} \rangle}{{s}^{2}}\overset{\sim}{s}} - {\frac{\langle {c^{j},\overset{\sim}{w}} \rangle}{{w}^{2}}\overset{\sim}{w}} + {M_{j}\frac{\overset{\sim}{w}}{{w}^{2}}}}},} & (1.6)\end{matrix}$where c^(j) is a pseudo-randomly generated O-mean vector for the j-throw. For each j, c^(j) is independently generated. It can be shown thatt^(j) can be rewritten as

${t^{j} = {c^{j} - {P_{s}( c^{j} )} - {P_{w}( c^{j} )} + {M_{j}\frac{w}{{w}^{2}}} + {\Delta\; t^{j}}}},$where

$\begin{matrix}{{\Delta\; t^{j}} = {{{- \frac{\langle {c^{j},s} \rangle}{{s}^{2}}}p} - {\frac{\langle {c^{j},p} \rangle}{{s}^{2}}( {s + p} )} - {\frac{\langle {c^{j},w} \rangle}{{w}^{2}}\Delta\; w} -}} \\{{{\frac{\langle {c^{j},{\Delta\; w}} \rangle}{{w}^{2}}( {w + {\Delta\; w}} )} + {M_{j}\frac{\Delta\; w}{{w}^{2}}}},}\end{matrix}$can be viewed as the “distortion” term in the generation of due to thepresence of p.

It can be shown that<t ^(j) ,s>=<Δt ^(j) ,s>, and<t ^(j) ,w>=M _(j) +<Δt ^(j) ,s>.

Furthermore,

${\lim\limits_{{p}->0}{\text{<}t^{j}}},{{s\text{>}} = 0},{{and}\mspace{14mu}{\lim\limits_{{p}->0}{\text{<}t^{j}}}},{{w\text{>}} = {M_{j}.}}$

Hence,

${\lim\limits_{{p}->0}{T( {s + w} )}} = {M.}$

Similarly, it can be shown that, for fixed ∥p∥, T(s+w)˜M forsufficiently large n.

Methodology of the Exemplary Authentication Mark Authenticator

FIGS. 5 and 6 show methodological implementations of the exemplaryauthentication mark authenticator. These methodological implementationsmay be performed in software, hardware, or a combination thereof.

Generation Of The Authentication-transformation Matrix (T)

FIG. 5 shows the generation of the authentication-transformation matrix(T). This methodological implementation may be performed (in whole or inpart) by the mark embedding system 100, mark authentication system 200,and/or as part of a computing environment like that shown in FIG. 11.

At 510 of FIG. 5, the exemplary authentication mark authenticatorobtains the pre-defined humanly perceptible authentication pattern (M),the original host signal (s), and the watermark (w). If a noisy versionof the marked signal is used, then it may also obtain the noisy originalhost signal({tilde over (s)}) and the noisy watermark ({tilde over(w)}).

At 512, the exemplary authentication mark authenticator constructs theauthentication-transformation matrix (T). If the noisy original hostsignal({tilde over (s)}) is being used, then T is constructed inaccordance with equation (1.6). Otherwise, T is constructed inaccordance with this equation:

$\begin{matrix}{t^{j} = {c^{j} - {\frac{{\text{<}c^{j}},{s\text{>}}}{{s}^{2}}s} - {\frac{{\text{<}c^{j}},{w\text{>}}}{{w}^{2}}w} + {M_{j}\frac{w}{{w}^{2}}}}} & (1.7)\end{matrix}$

Alternatively, the users of an implementation of the exemplaryauthentication mark authenticator may prefer to have p=0 if they areconvinced that the authentication is performed at a secure computer.This is equivalent to providing the unmarked signal s to theauthenticator and having {tilde over (s)}=s.

At 514, the exemplary authentication mark authenticator stores and/ortransmits the just-constructed authentication-transformation matrix (T).

Goods Authentication Based Upon the Authentication-Transformation Matrix(T)

FIG. 6 shows the authentication of subject goods based upon theauthentication-transformation matrix (T). This methodologicalimplementation may be performed (in whole or in part) by the markauthentication system 200, and/or as part of a computing environmentlike that shown in FIG. 11.

At 610 of FIG. 6, the exemplary authentication mark authenticatorobtains subject goods as input signal x.

At 612, the exemplary authentication mark authenticator obtains theauthentication-transformation matrix (T) which corresponds a particularset of the pre-defined humanly perceptible authentication pattern (M),the original host signal (s), and the watermark (w). It may have T instorage and/or receive it via a transmission. Alternatively, it mayre-constructing T in accordance with equation (1.6).

At 614, the exemplary authentication mark authenticator applies thelinear operator T to x to produce a human-perceptible output defined byTx. This is the humanly perceptible resultant pattern (e.g., image,audio).

At 616, it performs some post-processing to clean up the resultantpattern and enhance its human-perceptibility characteristics. Forexample, if the pattern is an image, then any well-known image-enhancingimage-processing techniques may the applied enhance any discernablepattern in the image.

At 618, it presents post-processed resultant pattern (Tx).

A human who perceives the output will make a decision whether thewatermark is present based upon whether the resultant pattern issufficiently similar to M; not present otherwise. In other words, thehuman makes a determination whether the human-perceptible output definedby Tx is sufficiently similar to the pre-defined pattern M. If it is,then this may also be useful in identifying the source of thewatermarked subject goods.

Alternatively, the authentication determination may be partially orfully automated. If it is partially automated, the authenticator mayflag questionable goods for the human to make a final authenticationdecision. If it is fully automated, then image processing techniques(along with others) may be used to make an authentication decision.

However, the implementation, described above, relies on the human visualperception to make the final authentication. That is because the humanvisual system performs better at detection of shapes than computerizedalgorithms in general. Furthermore, similar modifications on the inputgoods would result in clustered modifications on the human-perceptibleauthenticator output.

Thus, human testers would be likely to improve their performances intime using their “experiences” based on prior human-perceptible detectoroutputs they observed. Hence, if the human-perceptible authenticatoroutput is close to M, but with some significant degradation, it will bethe judgment of those testers, who have developed their skills in time,that will determine the result.

Since the output is intended to be a meaningful image M (in the case ofthe presence of a watermark), standard image processing techniques maybe applied to the authenticator's output to further enhance“human-perceptible detectibility.” Such techniques may includeregularization, smoothing, de-noising, etc. For instance, experimentshave shown that median filtering followed by thresholding significantlyimproves the human-perceptible authenticator outputs.

Furthermore, certain consistent defects at the authenticator outputwould possibly be useful in a scenario where the exemplaryauthentication mark authenticator is used for forensics analysis, attackclassification, etc.

Output from the Authenticator

FIG. 7A illustrates an example of a pre-defined pattern M that isexpected to be produced if the marked goods (with watermark therein)remain pristine.

FIG. 7B illustrates an example of the output from the authenticator,which is Tx. FIG. 7C represents the same image after some imageprocessing transformations are performed to enhance the contrastingpattern therein. Although fuzzy at points, the output from theauthenticator (represented by FIGS. 7B, and 7C) clearly matches thepre-chosen pattern M shown in FIG. 7A. Therefore, it is likely that thesubject goods being tested by the authenticator may be declared to havethe embedded watermark inside.

While the examples here show a visual pre-defined pattern M for subjectgoods are images, other combinations are possible. For example, a visualpre-defined pattern M may be employed with other goods, such as audio,video, software, authentication modules, databases, and other sets ofdata or information. Also, the pre-defined pattern M may be an audioclip, multimedia stream, data entry data (e.g., a password), anexecutable program module, etc.

Imagine these example scenarios below. They all assume that the resultof the authentication is that the subject goods are genuine. If thegoods are not genuine, then the opposite occurs:

-   Authentication of a music clip produces a resultant audio pattern    (Tx) that plays an identifying audio (e.g., “This is an authorized    copy of SongTitle by PublisherName.”).-   Authentication of a licensed image produces a visual resultant image    (Tx) that will reveals a licensing identification number (LIN) that    identifies the publisher/licensee of the image. Therefore, the image    is known to be genuine and identity of the publisher/licensee is    known.-   Authentication of software produces a visual resultant image (Tx)    that will reveals an authentication code for software.-   Authentication of a music clip produces a visual resultant image    (Tx) that will reveals publisher information.-   Authentication of a multimedia stream produces an audio pattern (Tx)    that plays an identifying audio (e.g., “This is an authorized copy    of MovieTitle by StudioName.”).-   Authentication of software produces a resultant program module (Tx)    that executes on the computer to perform some sort of authentication    action that authorizes use of software.    Distribution of the Secret Key That Determines the Embedded    Watermark

As mentioned above, the secret key (K) is used as the seed of a securepseudo-random number generator for the randomized portions of both theembedding and authentication (or detection). K is assumed to be known ordeterminable at both the embedder and the authenticator. As the seed forpseudo-random number generation, the secret key (K) controls thegeneration of w, T, and M.

It is a security risk to have only one secret key and that key's beingavailable at the authenticator. The authenticator may fall into thehands of an unscrupulous individual who may attempt to extract thesecret key. Once cracked, the attacker may act with impunity.Furthermore, changing secret codes may be desirable, but impractical ordifficult. Not all authenticators may be updated in a timely manner.

One conventional technique to overcome this problem is for the embedderto use one of multiple (perhaps thousands or millions) secret keys. Thenthe authenticator attempts to do an authentication on all of thispossible keys until it finds one that discovers an embedded watermark.However, this may be computationally inefficient since it may requireminutes or even hours of processing to make a determination.

Instead of using the conventional approaches, the exemplaryauthentication architecture employs secret key distribution. With it,the secret key is hidden with the goods so that it may be read later bythe authenticator. The exemplary authentication architecture may beimplemented so that every issuing entity corresponds to one or moredifferent secret watermarks and one or more secret keys. Similarly, itmay be implemented so that each different embedded watermark correspondsto one or more different secret key.

The one or more exemplary implementations, described herein, of thesecret key distribution may be implemented (in whole or in part) byauthentication architecture, mark embedding system 100, markauthentication system 200,and/or as part of a computing environment likethat shown in FIG. 11.

In at least one example implementation that includes image watermarkingon printed media, the exemplary secret key distribution secretly encodesthe secret key into and/or around the physical manifestation of themarked goods. For example, the exemplary secret key distribution mayclandestinely encode a version of the secret key around the watermarkedimage in the form of a border that consists of “light” and “dark”pixels.

Alternatively, an audio clip may be watermarked so that the secret keyis clandestinely encoded in the “noise” preceding and/or following theclip in the time domain and/or outside the human hearing range in thefrequency domain.

In order to achieve this purpose, the exemplary secret key distributionuses pseudo-randomly generated error-correction code for encodingpurposes. A master key is used to generate such an error-correctioncode. The exemplary secret key distribution uses a secreterror-correction code instead of conventional encryption schemes inorder to further correct possible errors that may happen during theprinting and scanning process.

For the purposes of this discussion, let x be a binary user id of lengthn, i.e., x∈{0,1}^(n). Let m be the size of the binary border that weshall use, m>n. The exemplary secret key distribution uses apseudo-randomly generated error-correction code to encodes x toy∈{0,1}^(m). The master key K shall be used as the seed of the randomnumber generator in the generation of the code. The master key K isdifferent from the user-specific secret key and it is known at all ofthe authenticators. The master key K should remain as a secret and notbe revealed to any unauthorized party.

Although the description below is confined to linear block codes, thegeneral idea may be used with other pseudo-randomly generatednon-algebraic codes as well. Let p be an integer that divides both n andm.

Methodology of Encoding the Secret Key

FIG. 8 shows a methodological implementation of encoder of the exemplarysecret key distribution. This methodological implementation may beperformed in software, hardware, or a combination thereof.

At 810, the encoder pseudo-randomly generates p different generatormatrices G_(i) in Galois-Field2 (GF2), 1≦i≦p. Note that each G_(i) is ofsize (n/p)×(m/p) and it should be full-rank.

One way to achieve full-rank generator matrix construction in GF2 is togenerate each G_(i) in its systematic form. That isG_(i)=[I_((n/p×n/p))|R_((n/p)×(m/p−n/p))], where I_((n/p×n/p)) is theidentity matrix of size (n/p)×(n/p) and R_((n/p)×(m/p−n/p)) is apseudo-random matrix of size (n/p)×(m/p−n/p). In other words, each entryof R is 0 or 1 with probability ½. This construction guarantees thatG_(i) is full-rank (rank (n/p)) and furthermore each full-rank matrixcan be reduced to such systematic form.

At 812, the encoder splits x into p segments, where segment i is givenby x_(i)=[x_((i−1)*(n/p))+1, . . . x_(i*p)], 1≦i≦p where x_(j) is thej-th element of x, 1≦j≦n.

At 814, the encoder computes y_(i)=x_(i)G_(i), 1≦i≦p. Note that∀i,y_(i)∈{0,1}^(m/p).

At 816, the encoder forms y via concatenating {y_(i)}:y_((i−1)*(m/p)+j)=y_(ij), 1≦i≦p, 1≦j≦(m/p), where y_(k) and Y_(il) arek-th and l-th elements of y and y_(i) respectively.

At 818, it produces y on the periphery of the watermarked signal. In thecase of a printed image, it prints y surrounding the watermarked imagein the form a border that consists of “light” and “dark” pixels, where“light” (resp. “dark”) corresponds to a 0 (resp. 1). In the case ofaudio, it may encode y in the “noise” outside the range of human hearingin the frequency domain or before/after the beginning/end of the clip inthe time domain.

Methodology of Decoding the Secret Key

FIG. 9 shows a methodological implementation of the decoder of theexemplary secret key distribution. This methodological implementationmay be performed in software, hardware, or a combination thereof.

Let z∈{0,1}^(m) be the input of the decoder. The input z could beobtained, for example, by scanning a printed image, such as what isillustrated in FIG. 2. Furthermore, it is assumed that the secret masterkey K and the constants m, n, p are known at the decoder. The goal hereis to find out the secret key that determines the embedded watermark.

At 910, the decoder splits z into p different segments z_(i), 1≦i≦p,each length m/p: z_(i)=[z_((i−1)*(m/p)+1), . . . , z_(i*) _(p) ]wherez_(j) is the j-th element of z, 1≦j≦m.

At 912, the decoder generates all possible length-n/p binary vectorsU_(k), 1≦k≦2^(n/p).

At 914, for each 1≦i≦p, the decoder computes the decoded vectors{circumflex over (x)}_(i): {circumflex over (x)}_(i)=arg min_(u) _(k)_(1≦k≦2) _(n/p) d(u_(k)G_(i),z_(i))

At 916, the decoder produces output {circumflex over (x)}, which isgiven via concatenating {{circumflex over (x)}_(i)}: {circumflex over(x)}_((i−1)*n/p)+j)={circumflex over (x)}_(i), 1≦i≦p, 1≦j≦(n/p), where{circumflex over (x)}_(k) and {circumflex over (x)}_(il) are k-th andl-th elements of {circumflex over (x)} and {circumflex over (x)}_(i)respectively.

Secret Key Distribution

FIG. 10A shows an example of an marked image without the boundaryinformation carrying the secret key. FIG. 10B shows an example of thesame marked image, but it now includes the boundary information carryingthe watermark-specific secret key.

One way to measure security of this secret key distribution is toquantify the entropy that is introduced by it. The entropy in theformation of each G_(i) is

$\frac{n}{p} \cdot \frac{m - n}{p}$bits. Therefore, the total entropy of this secret key distribution is

$\frac{n( {m - n} )}{p}$bits. Hence, for fixed m, n, the security of our scheme decreases in pwith the rate of 1/p.

In this implementation described above, the encoding time is polynomialsince a linear block code is used. However, the decoding time isexponential since the code has no structure (since it is randomlychosen). For each 1≦i≦p, and for each given u_(k), computing u_(k)G_(i)costs

$\frac{m\; n^{2}}{p^{3}}$GF2 multiplications and

$\frac{m\; n}{p^{2}}$GF2 additions, hence a total of

$\frac{m\;{n( {n + p} )}}{p^{3}}$GF2 operations. This is repeated for each 1≦i≦p and each 1≦k≦2^(n/p).Hence, the total computational cost is

$2^{n/p}\frac{m\; n( {n + p} )}{p^{2}}$GF2 operations, which is dominated by 2^(n/p).Exemplary Computing System and Environment

FIG. 11 illustrates another example of a suitable computing environment1100 within which one or more implementations, as described herein, maybe implemented (either fully or partially). The computing environment1100 may be utilized in the computer and network architectures describedherein.

The exemplary computing environment 1100 is only one example of acomputing environment and is not intended to suggest any limitation asto the scope of use or functionality of the computer and networkarchitectures. Neither should the computing environment 1100 beinterpreted as having any dependency or requirement relating to any oneor combination of components illustrated in the exemplary computingenvironment 1100.

The one or more embodiments, as described herein, may be implementedwith numerous other general purpose or special purpose computing systemenvironments or configurations. Examples of well known computingsystems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable foruse include, but are not limited to, personal computers, servercomputers, thin clients, thick clients, hand-held or laptop devices,multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes,programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframecomputers, distributed computing environments that include any of theabove systems or devices, and the like.

The one or more implementations, as described herein, may be describedin the general context of processor-executable instructions, such asprogram modules, being executed by a processor. Generally, programmodules include routines, programs, objects, components, datastructures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types.

The one or more implementations, as described herein, may also bepracticed in distributed computing environments where tasks areperformed by remote processing devices that are linked through acommunications network. In a distributed computing environment, programmodules may be located in both local and remote computer storage mediaincluding memory storage devices.

The computing environment 1100 includes a general-purpose computingdevice in the form of a computer 1102. The components of computer 1102may include, but are not limited to, one or more processors orprocessing units 1104, a system memory 1106, and a system bus 1108 thatcouples various system components, including the processor 1104, to thesystem memory 1106.

The system bus 1108 represents one or more of any of several types ofbus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, aperipheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or localbus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, sucharchitectures can include a CardBus, Personal Computer Memory CardInternational Association (PCMCIA), Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP),Small Computer System Interface (SCSI), Universal Serial Bus (USB), IEEE1394, a Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and aPeripheral Component Interconnects (PCI) bus also known as a Mezzaninebus.

Computer 1102 typically includes a variety of processor-readable media.Such media may be any available media that is accessible by computer1102 and includes both volatile and non-volatile media, removable andnon-removable media.

The system memory 1106 includes processor-readable media in the form ofvolatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) 1110, and/ornon-volatile memory, such as read only memory (ROM) 1112. A basicinput/output system (BIOS) 1114, containing the basic routines that helpto transfer information between elements within computer 1102, such asduring start-up, is stored in ROM 1112. RAM 1110 typically contains dataand/or program modules that are immediately accessible to and/orpresently operated on by the processing unit 1104.

Computer 1102 may also include other removable/non-removable,volatile/non-volatile computer storage media. By way of example, FIG. 11illustrates a hard disk drive 1116 for reading from and writing to anon-removable, non-volatile magnetic media (not shown), a magnetic diskdrive 1118 for reading from and writing to a removable, non-volatilemagnetic disk 1120 (e.g., a “floppy disk”), and an optical disk drive1122 for reading from and/or writing to a removable, non-volatileoptical disk 1124 such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or other optical media. Thehard disk drive 1116, magnetic disk drive 1118, and optical disk drive1122 are each connected to the system bus 1108 by one or more data mediainterfaces 1126. Alternatively, the hard disk drive 1116, magnetic diskdrive 1118, and optical disk drive 1122 may be connected to the systembus 1108 by one or more interfaces (not shown).

The disk drives and their associated processor-readable media providenon-volatile storage of processor-readable instructions, datastructures, program modules, and other data for computer 1102. Althoughthe example illustrates a hard disk 1116, a removable magnetic disk1120, and a removable optical disk 1124, it is to be appreciated thatother types of processor-readable media, which may store data that isaccessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes or other magneticstorage devices, flash memory cards, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks(DVD) or other optical storage, random access memories (RAM), read onlymemories (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory(EEPROM), and the like, may also be utilized to implement the exemplarycomputing system and environment.

Any number of program modules may be stored on the hard disk 1116,magnetic disk 1120, optical disk 1124, ROM 1112, and/or RAM 1110,including by way of example, an operating system 1126, one or moreapplication programs 1128, other program modules 1130, and program data1132.

A user may enter commands and information into computer 1102 via inputdevices such as a keyboard 1134 and a pointing device 1136 (e.g., a“mouse”). Other input devices 1138 (not shown specifically) may includea microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, serial port, scanner,and/or the like. These and other input devices are connected to theprocessing unit 1104 via input/output interfaces 1140 that are coupledto the system bus 1108, but may be connected by other interface and busstructures, such as a parallel port, game port, or a universal serialbus (USB).

A monitor 1142 or other type of display device may also be connected tothe system bus 1108 via an interface, such as a video adapter 1144. Inaddition to the monitor 1142, other output peripheral devices mayinclude components, such as speakers (not shown) and a printer 1146,which may be connected to computer 1102 via the input/output interfaces1140.

Computer 1102 may operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computingdevice 1148. By way of example, the remote computing device 1148 may bea personal computer, portable computer, a server, a router, a networkcomputer, a peer device or other common network node, and the like. Theremote computing device 1148 is illustrated as a portable computer thatmay include many or all of the elements and features described herein,relative to computer 1102.

Logical connections between computer 1102 and the remote computer 1148are depicted as a local area network (LAN) 1150 and a general wide areanetwork (WAN) 1152. Such networking environments are commonplace inoffices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets, and the Internet.

When implemented in a LAN networking environment, the computer 1102 isconnected to a local network 1150 via a network interface or adapter1154. When implemented in a WAN networking environment, the computer1102 typically includes a modem 1156 or other means for establishingcommunications over the wide network 1152. The modem 1156, which may beinternal or external to computer 1102, may be connected to the systembus 1108 via the input/output interfaces 1140 or other appropriatemechanisms. It is to be appreciated that the illustrated networkconnections are exemplary and that other means of establishingcommunication link(s) between the computers 1102 and 1148 may beemployed.

In a networked environment, such as that illustrated with computingenvironment 1100, program modules depicted relative to the computer1102, or portions thereof, may be stored in a remote memory storagedevice. By way of example, remote application programs 1158 reside on amemory device of remote computer 1148. For purposes of illustration,application programs and other executable program components, such asthe operating system, are illustrated herein as discrete blocks,although it is recognized that such programs and components reside atvarious times in different storage components of the computing device1102, and are executed by the data processor(s) of the computer.

Processor-executable Instructions

One or more implementations, as described herein, may be described inthe general context of processor-executable instructions, such asprogram modules, executed by one or more computers or other devices.Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks orimplement particular abstract data types. Typically, the functionalityof the program modules may be combined or distributed as desired invarious embodiments.

Processor-Readable Media

One or more implementations, as described herein, may be stored on ortransmitted across some form of processor-readable media.Processor-readable media may be any available media that may be accessedby a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, processor-readablemedia may comprise “computer storage media” and “communications media.”

“Computer storage media” include volatile and non-volatile, removableand non-removable media implemented in any method or technology forstorage of information such as processor-readable instructions, datastructures, program modules, or other data. Computer storage mediaincludes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or othermemory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or otheroptical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic diskstorage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which maybe used to store the desired information and which may be accessed by acomputer.

“Communication media” typically embodies processor-readableinstructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in amodulated data signal, such as carrier wave or other transportmechanism. Communication media also includes any information deliverymedia. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one ormore of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encodeinformation in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation,communication media includes wired media such as a wired network ordirect-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF,infrared, and other wireless media. Combinations of any of the above arealso included within the scope of processor-media.

Conclusion

Although the invention has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological steps, it is to be understoodthat the invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarilylimited to the specific features or steps described. Rather, thespecific features and steps are disclosed as preferred forms ofimplementing the claimed invention.

1. An architecture facilitating authentication of goods, thearchitecture comprising: a matrix-generator configured to produce anauthentication-transformation matrix based, at least in part, upon apre-defined humanly perceptible authentication pattern and a watermarkof marked original goods, wherein a function of the matrix and themarked original goods produces a humanly perceptible pattern that issignificantly similar to the authentication pattern; a goodsauthenticator configured to facilitate authentication that subject goodswhich allegedly correspond to the marked original goods are genuine,wherein the authentication is based, at least in part, upon a humanlyperceptible resultant pattern which is produced, at least in part, fromthe authentication-transformation matrix and the subject goods.
 2. Anarchitecture as recited in claim 1, wherein the good authenticator isfurther configured to present the humanly perceptible resultant pattern.3. An architecture as recited in claim 1, wherein the type of theauthentication pattern and the resultant pattern is selected from agroup consisting of image, audio, video, software, multimedia, database,and dataset.
 4. An architecture as recited in claim 1, wherein the typeof the original and subject goods is selected from a group consisting ofimage, audio, video, software, multimedia, database, and dataset.
 5. Anarchitecture as recited in claim 1, wherein the authentication patternidentifies one or more entities associated with the original goods.
 6. Aprocessor-readable medium having processor-executable instructions that,when executed by a processor, performs a method comprising: obtaining apre-defined humanly perceptible authentication pattern and a watermarkof marked original goods; producing an authentication-transformationmatrix based, at least in part, upon the authentication pattern and thewatermark, wherein a function of the matrix and the marked originalgoods produces a humanly perceptible resultant pattern that issignificantly similar to the authentication pattern.
 7. A medium asrecited in claim 6, wherein the humanly perceptible resultant pattern isnearly identical to the authentication pattern.
 8. A medium as recitedin claim 6, wherein the humanly perceptible resultant pattern isidentical to the authentication pattern.
 9. A medium as recited in claim6, wherein the method further comprises storing theauthentication-transformation matrix in association with the watermarkof marked original goods or the original goods.
 10. A medium as recitedin claim 6, wherein the method further comprises transmitting theauthentication-transformation matrix.
 11. A medium as recited in claim6, wherein the type of the authentication pattern and the resultantpattern is selected from a group consisting of image, audio, video,software, multimedia, database, and dataset.
 12. A medium as recited inclaim 6, wherein the type of the original goods is selected from a groupconsisting of image, audio, video, software, multimedia, database, anddataset.
 13. A medium as recited in claim 6, wherein the authenticationpattern identifies one or more entities associated with the originalgoods.
 14. A system comprising: a processor and a memory; a medium asrecited in claim
 6. 15. A method comprising: obtaining a pre-definedhumanly perceptible authentication pattern and a watermark of markedoriginal goods; producing an authentication-transformation matrix based,at least in part, upon the authentication pattern and the watermark,wherein a function of the matrix and the marked original goods producesa humanly perceptible resultant pattern that is significantly similar tothe authentication pattern.
 16. A method as recited in claim 15, whereinthe humanly perceptible resultant pattern is nearly identical to theauthentication pattern.
 17. A method as recited in claim 15, wherein thehumanly perceptible resultant pattern is identical to the authenticationpattern.
 18. A method as recited in claim 15 further comprising storingthe authentication-transformation matrix in association with thewatermark of marked original goods or the original goods.
 19. A methodas recited in claim 15 further comprising transmitting theauthentication-transformation matrix.
 20. A method as recited in claim15, wherein the type of the authentication pattern and the resultantpattern is selected from a group consisting of image, audio, video,software, multimedia, database, and dataset.
 21. A method as recited inclaim 15, wherein the type of the original goods is selected from agroup consisting of image, audio, video, software, multimedia, database,and dataset.
 22. A method as recited in claim 15, wherein theauthentication pattern identifies one or more entities associated withthe original goods.
 23. A computer comprising one or moreprocessor-readable media having processor-executable instructions that,when executed by the computer, perform the method as recited in claim15.
 24. A system comprising: a data-retrieval unit configured to obtaina pre-defined humanly perceptible authentication pattern and a watermarkof marked original goods; a matrix-generation unit configured to producean authentication-transformation matrix based, at least in part, upon apre-defined humanly perceptible authentication pattern and a watermarkof marked original goods, wherein a function of the matrix and themarked original goods produces a humanly perceptible pattern that issignificantly similar to the authentication pattern.
 25. A system asrecited in claim 24, wherein the humanly perceptible resultant patternis nearly identical to the authentication pattern.
 26. A system asrecited in claim 24, wherein the humanly perceptible resultant patternis identical to the authentication pattern.
 27. A system as recited inclaim 24 further comprising a data storage sub-system configured tostore the authentication-transformation matrix in association with thewatermark of marked original goods or the original goods.
 28. A systemas recited in claim 24 further comprising a data transmission sub-systemconfigured to transmit the authentication-transformation matrix to angoods authentication system.
 29. A system as recited in claim 24,wherein the type of the authentication pattern and the resultant patternis selected from a group consisting of image, audio, video, software,multimedia, database, and dataset.
 30. A system as recited in claim 24,wherein the type of the original goods is selected from a groupconsisting of image, audio, video, software, multimedia, database, anddataset.
 31. A system as recited in claim 24, wherein the authenticationpattern identifies one or more entities associated with the originalgoods.
 32. A processor-readable medium having processor-executableinstructions that, when executed by a processor, performs a methodcomprising: obtaining an authentication-transformation matrix, thematrix being based, at least in part, upon a pre-defined humanlyperceptible authentication pattern and a watermark of marked originalgoods, wherein a function of the matrix and the marked original goodsproduces a humanly perceptible pattern that is significantly similar tothe authentication pattern; generating a humanly perceptible resultantpattern based, at least in part, upon the authentication-transformationmatrix and subject goods.
 33. A medium as recited in claim 32, whereinthe humanly perceptible resultant pattern is nearly identical to theauthentication pattern.
 34. A medium as recited in claim 32, wherein thehumanly perceptible resultant pattern is identical to the authenticationpattern.
 35. A medium as recited in claim 32, wherein the method furthercomprises presenting the humanly perceptible resultant pattern.
 36. Amedium as recited in claim 32, wherein the type of the authenticationpattern and the resultant pattern is selected from a group consisting ofimage, audio, video, software, multimedia, database, and dataset.
 37. Amedium as recited in claim 32, wherein the type of the original andsubject goods is selected from a group consisting of image, audio,video, software, multimedia, database, and dataset.
 38. A medium asrecited in claim 32, wherein the authentication pattern identifies oneor more entities associated with the original goods.
 39. A goodsauthentication device comprising: an audio and/or visual output unit; amedium as recited in claim
 32. 40. A method for authenticating goods,the method comprising: obtaining subject goods and anauthentication-transformation matrix, the matrix being based, at leastin part, upon a pre-defined humanly perceptible authentication patternand a watermark of marked original goods, wherein a function of thematrix and the marked original goods produces a humanly perceptiblepattern that is significantly similar to the authentication pattern;generating a humanly perceptible resultant pattern based, at least inpart, from the authentication-transformation matrix and the subjectgoods.
 41. A method as recited in claim 40, wherein the humanlyperceptible resultant pattern is nearly identical to the authenticationpattern.
 42. A method as recited in claim 40, wherein the humanlyperceptible resultant pattern is identical to the authenticationpattern.
 43. A method as recited in claim 40 further comprisingpresenting the humanly perceptible resultant pattern.
 44. A method asrecited in claim 40, wherein the type of the authentication pattern andthe resultant pattern is selected from a group consisting of image,audio, video, software, multimedia, database, and dataset.
 45. A methodas recited in claim 40, wherein the type of the original and subjectgoods is selected from a group consisting of image, audio, video,software, multimedia, database, and dataset.
 46. A method as recited inclaim 40, wherein the authentication pattern identifies one or moreentities associated with the original goods.
 47. A computer comprisingone or more processor-readable media having processor-executableinstructions that, when executed by the computer, perform the method asrecited in claim
 40. 48. A goods authentication system, comprising agoods authenticator configured to facilitate a determination regardingwhether subject goods are genuine based at least in part upon apresentation of a humanly perceptible pattern based upon a combinationof a pre-defined transformation matrix and the subject goods, whereinthe predefined transformation matrix is based, at least in part, upon apre-defined humanly perceptible authentication pattern and a watermarkof marked original goods, wherein a function of the matrix and themarked goods produces a humanly perceptible pattern that issignificantly similar to the authentication pattern.